Where Nerds Network: Silicon Valley's Top 20 Watering Holes

"Nerd"-working, a.k.a. networking for really smart engineering types, still does take place over a brew, a shot, and sometimes even wine. This slideshow is designed to show where the geeks of Silicon Valley converge. I started out by getting input from parched programmers and dehydrated engineers from a variety of South Bay tech companies including Cisco, Texas Instruments (National Semi folks), Altera, Apple, PLX, Xilinx, and even some independent types, as to the geek-a-holic pubs/bar hangouts they frequent, and why. My mistake was that I asked engineers representing a variety of age groups -- so you'll see those that appeal to a pretty wide range of nerds.

Before I tell you where they go, the why was all over the map. For the most part, the location was close to work, it was noisy enough to not be easily heard by the competition, they could view many sporting events, and, amazingly, the food was important.

For the brewpubs, the reasons are obvious -- beer made locally is much better than the Bud, Miller, Corona varieties, and priced extremely well. For the large number of foreign engineers, bars are the best and sometimes the only option to view major sporting events from their home countries. Some said they might end up in the bar at 5:00 a.m. for breakfast, not because they were up all night drinking, but because that's the time they can catch an afternoon match in Europe live.

Finally, this is a happy hour group. Half off on appetizers and deep discounts on beer was really important. While this wasn't a contest between the establishments, it's obvious that if Fry's served beer, it would be the place to go.

In researching this collection, I was told that today's engineers are more diverse than their predecessors and don't necessarily sit around pubs talking engineering 24/7. There might be a night of partying but not so much connection to hangouts. Their activities go beyond pub hopping. There are also clubs that put on mixers such as Hackers and Founders and Newbie Happy Hour for those new to Silicon Valley.

Although I think this observation is correct for some, fortunately for others, nerd-working is best done in a friendly, loud, and unintimidating atmosphere.

Here are the results of my quest. Click the image to view the slideshow.

Stephens Green, 223 Castro St., Mountain View.
Stephens Green is a pretty authentic pub with minimal electronic toys and maximum good bar food. They have a lot of activity from the SV techno set but also from "civilians," but you canít help that. Sports events shown include GAA, Soccer-Premiership, MLS & Champions League, Football -- NFL Sunday Ticket, College football, Big Ten, ESPN, Hockey, Baseball, Basketball, Rugby, UFC Fight Nights, etc. With tech companies like Google, Yahoo, Cypress, and Facebook, the place is always pretty packed.

Great article! If you are over 50, the top of the list is St. James. Mixture of tech workers, Stanford grad students, bikers, and Navy pilots from Moffett Field... Great place! But, the ultimate tech bar was not on the list. Ely McFlys in Cupertino. Next door to Apple (aka Bandley 7) it was where Apple, FourPhase, and the occasional lost HP employees ended up after work, many times during. Inside was decorated to look like a mad scientist lab. Tons of old Microwave equipment glued to the wall. Massive old vacuum tubes used as lighting fixtures. Weird space ships everywhere....or maybe it was the Tequila.

"Favorite" woudl have to be tailored to the company and the reason for going, but loosely I'd have to say Birk's for business and Fibbar McGhees' with friends. Often at TL Beergaden lately, esp when in a divey kind of mood, and because it's really close to my work. The "Colorado Blue" lamb burger there is my all-time favorite burger, anywhere.

So, I mention two of the networks. Do a search and contact them right away - I think the location changes so you're going to want to know when the next event is. Let me know how you like it--these seem really pretty cool, as it's tough to move in anywhere and feel like you're a part of the crowd. Good luck!

Horrified to see how many of these places have TVs. Any self respecting engineer in Eng;and would turn around at the door and go somewhere else where they could actually hold a conversation. A few of the list look good though.

Sometimes it's good to plan to be in a noisy place instead of having conversation. There's something (or two or three) for everyone here. So are you saying U.S. engineers don't respect themselvs as much as their counterparts across the pond? Hmmmm. What do you all have to say about that?

To your "no longer with us," I'd add the old Old Pro at the corner of Page Mill and El Camino, in the old Quonset hut. In my early early days at EE Times I went out with one of our editors, Bob Blissmer, who was moving to an exotic atoll some where, and we whiled the night away there, drinking lots of beer and shooting lots of pool. I remember Bob as being outstanding at both.

Hey Brian, When I read your post, I thought of one more. It wasn't really a place for engineers so much, but do you remember the old Tiki place on Steven's Creek, near Merrill Lynch (or maybe Merrill is built on the old site) and Lawrence Expressway. I loved the chairs.... I never got to the Old Pro.....How did I miss it?